Blog Tour: October by J. Grace Pennington

Today is the day! For what? The release of J. Grace Pennington’s new book, October. Yep, she named her book after the month we are in. Check out the great giveaway, and the other posts in this countdown!

About the Book

For Emily Baxter, life is simple. Her world is made up completely of school, church, and the community in the small farming town she calls home. All that changes one fateful Sunday, when a new girl shows up at Pleasanton Baptist—a girl unlike anyone Emily has ever seen. A girl with long red hair, crystal green eyes, and style and posture like royalty.

A girl named October.

The months that follow are filled with magic—the magic of ordinary things, of finding pictures in the stars, of imagination and a new sense of beauty. But as time goes by, Emily begins to sense that her enchanting new friend may have secrets that could break the spell. Is October really all she seems to be?

About the Author

Grace Pennington has been telling stories since she could talk and writing them down since age five. Now she lives in the great state of Texas, where she writes as much as adult life permits. When she’s not writing she enjoys reading good books, having adventures with her husband, and looking up at the stars.

My question had been in the most teasing tone possible, but her reply was as serious as I had been silly. “Whenever a decision is made in the heat of the moment—when we allow ourselves to be carried on joy or sorrow or mere simplicity and quiet—whatever it is, a moment of magic is created. Not always good magic, of course. But magic, nonetheless.”

From anyone else, it would have been the most absurd thing imaginable. I would have laughed. But here, under the stars, with that hint of wonder I had never heard in anyone else her age—I believed it.

“Then let’s have a magical day tomorrow,” I said.

It was dark, but I could feel her smile.

Character Spotlight

Emily Baxter

Despite not being the title or central character, Emily is the protagonist of “October.” She is the narrator, the one through whose eyes we see the story—and October herself.

So who is Emily?

Emily is a small-town, seventeen-year-old girl who lives with her parents and her younger brother. She goes to school and does her homework. She goes to church every Sunday. She goes to the mall with her friends. She hangs out with her cousin, Jax, who lives just down the road from her.

She’s a good girl. Sheltered. Respectful. She loves reading, particularly books about dragons. She loves the color teal. She loves poetry. She loves spring, when the leaves come back to cover the nakedness of the trees. She loves her parents, but finds them difficult to talk to, especially her mother. Like many girls, she feels much more affection for her father. She loves her little brother, but mostly writes him off as a somewhat annoying little kid.

She’s very close with her cousin, and somewhat close with her best friend, but still doesn’t feel quite like there’s anyone who can really relate with her on a deeper level. Especially now—in that awkward period on the brink of adulthood but not seeming able to quite break into it. She knows who she is, but she doesn’t seem to have that undefinable something that brings someone out of the innocence of childhood and into the grown-up world.

Enter October Blake. A beautiful, somewhat mysterious, slightly older girl who shows up unannounced in Emily’s hometown and immediately captures her heart. Could October be the friend she’s always hoped for?

Giveaway

Grace has generously offered a paperback book of her new book as her giveaway prize. You can enter at this link.